Obviously excluding something like they were trying to groom a child are there circumstances where what someone wrote on a messageboard, a blog, twitter or whatever forum online would make you call the police and what circumstances would they be?
I think specific physical threats would qualify if the threat maker was identified.
There is a point of exhaustion however. There is a conservative blogger in my area who is a rabid, egomaniacal shit stirrer. So much so that he is despised by a large chunk of the local population. He especially enjoys stirring up the local volunteer fire departments with all kinds of baseless accusations, and (to be frank) they are an easy bunch to get wound up.
The last time he hit the hornets nest he got several anonymous “watch your back threats” and he insisted the FBI come in and instigate each one by going after the ISPs data to track down the miscreants. I think the FBI told him to pound sand.
I think most death threats posted on the internet come from losers who are desperately seeking publicity. Involving the police would only boost their egos and encourage others to make the same kind of posts. Ignoring them is the better option.
I don’t think I would. I would have a hard time believing it. Honestly, most people who write these type of confessions are liars and attention seekers. Most people who get away with a crime usually deny they ever did it, even offline.
I’d call for a suicide threat. Can’t think of much else that would make me pick up a phone.
Yes: suicide threat, violence threatened against a specific person/structure, child porn.
Didn’t the recent Norwegian shooter post lots of material online before his rampage?
I wanted to call for someone threatening suicide on a message board - he had a plan, fairly detailed, so I took him seriously - but I simply could not locate where he was, which could have been anywhere in North America.
He never posted again… so… I do wonder…
Funny that this topic is coming up. My cousin’s 16-year-old son just posted on his FB wall something to the effect that “the people of Columbine didn’t get the point.” Made me pause, to be sure.
Phred?
No.
If someone in WoW threatens to kill themselves though, I always report it to a GM (and then THEY call the police–I wouldn’t know where to start, but they have players’ personal information and are obliged to do something). Because if they are really suicidal, then I helped save a life. And if they’re an internet tough kid, getting a visit from the cops is going to scare the shit out of them, piss off their parents, and be really, really hilarious.
A few years ago, I was on the local Craigs List Rants and Raves page and noticed a person had posted saying they were going to commit suicide, and listed their reasons why. Of course, 95% of the replies to this person were from jerks trying to get him to actually go through with it. I ended up sending him a response with the typical ‘it’s not worth it, get help, here’s the help line number’, etc., and he responded using the function that sends an email to the one I’d registered with for CL.
He essentially was arguing about why he needed to die and I kept trying to offer help. I knew he lived in the same city as me, and through our emails, I learned the area he lived in, his first name, and the name of a family member. Using that, I was able to find his last known address.
He told me how he was going to do it and where. The emails went back and forth for about 48 hours. He started asking me to meet him, which I obviously declined, and kept insisting that he get help or go to the hospital. Finally, he said that he was going to go carry out his plan.
I immediately called the police non-emergency line. I spoke with an officer and explained the situation. I told her the address and what he had said. The police went and knocked on the door and there was no answer. The officer called me back to tell me no one was home, so I asked her to get in to the house/break down the door, as he may have possibly committed suicide there. They couldn’t do it because they had no cause, even though he told me he was going to off himself, I didn’t know him personally (so couldn’t ask them to do a wellness check), and they couldn’t confirm that he still lived at that address.
So, she had the details I was given about where he was going to do the deed and we left it at that. I checked the papers for a few weeks to see if anything happened at that particular bridge, but didn’t see anything, though I know now that suicides often aren’t reported in the paper.
Never heard from him again. Always wonder.
Stalkin’ Broadway. Reporting this person probably saved Deborah Gibson’s life when she was starring in Broadway’s Beauty & The Beast